"Yeah, I am starting to figure that out." Janelle replied to Heather, folding her arms.

"Because of my girlfriend. I'm here to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." He replied.

"Well, let me make something clear then. If this is how you are going to continually act, then we are threw. Torie is not an idiot. She is standing up for something that she believes in, something that she believes is wrong and something that everyone believes is wrong. She knew the consequences as well and took them with the grace and poise of an aristocrat. If you can't believe in her, then what can you believe in Cole?" Janelle replied, hurt by his words.

Cole stood up. "Logic and reasoning. Going up against an organization that has many more resources than we do is pointless. But if you all want to throw your lives away. So be it. I'm out." He replied, walking out of the room and out of the house.

Janelle stood there, blinking back tears.
~
As Cole walked out of the house, he bumped into Alex. Cole looked at Alex and then just kept walking, not really caring.

Being single doesn't make you weak, it means that you are strong enough to be on your own; Being alone could be a good thing, because there is no drama involved in your life, no pain, and free to do what ever you want. Life is too short to be chasing those who aren't even worth fighting for, you are worth more than that.

Dr. Martin sighed, "Not exactly a stellar start to this meeting. I will admit, I'm a little thrown off by all of that. Well, let's see... Who wants to speak next?"
-
Mr. Rice had brought his things to a hotel and was now on his way to The Program.

"Welcome to what Torie dealt with on a regular basis." Mike replied, sighing.

Alex walked into the house and into the dining room. "Uh...hi guys."

"REALLY!" Janelle shouted, plopping down into her chair. "Out of everything that could happen next, you have to show up."

"What the hell do you want?" Greg replied.

"I want to help." Alex replied.

"Oh is that what you call it. Helping?" Mike replied. "Beating the sh*t out of Torie, getting your @ss kicked by her, and getting Ryan thrown into the Program. Is that your idea of helping? Well, we don't want it."

"No. That was me being an as.shole. I want to help you guys beat the Program and my father." He replied.

Being single doesn't make you weak, it means that you are strong enough to be on your own; Being alone could be a good thing, because there is no drama involved in your life, no pain, and free to do what ever you want. Life is too short to be chasing those who aren't even worth fighting for, you are worth more than that.

Ella rolled her eyes, "The great one has graced us commoners with his presence. It must be really difficult for you being around trash like us, huh? Especially now that Torie's not around for you to talk to, since the rest of us aren't high-class enough for you to speak to as equals."

"You must be Alexander Rice. Welcome, sit down." Stanley said, motioning to what was Cole's empty chair. He didn't seem very phased by what was going on.

Dr. Martin shook his head, "All of you are thinking with your emotions. Alex being here is a great thing for the resistance. His father created The Program. If anyone has pertinent information for us, it's Alex. From what Ryan had told me, I do understand he made mistakes, but everyone deserves a second chance."

"More like 7th chance by now." Ella mumbled.

Heather stood up and stood beside Alex. "Dr. Martin is right. We're going to need all the help we can get."

-

Mr. Rice walked in the front doors of the bleak, concrete building and to the front desk. The receptionist hung up the phone and said to him, "Mr. Rice, wow, it's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Rice. I'll get Dr. Amon to come here right away."

Vivian was with David on his trip. She walked in behind him. "Vivian Archer. Mr. Rice's personal assistant."

"It's nice to see you too...?" The woman said, unsure as to what else to say to Vivian. She picked up the phone and called Dr. Amon. "Sir, it's Lacey, Mr. Rice has arrived."

Alex sat down. "Thank you." He replied to Dr. Stanley and Heather. "Look, I don't expect you all to like me, but...I realize that I have made a lot of mistakes and I want to amend them. I know that Torie will not love me like she does Ryan but I want to help you guys. My dad is in town and he will be talking and discussing what he wants to do with Torie. I also have information that will ruin him publicly."

Janelle scoffed. "You are definitely not liked here."
~
"Thank you, Lacey." Dr. Amon responded. He hung up and dialed another extension. "Joe, please take Victoria out of her cell and into a holding room. Mr. Rice is here." He hung up and walked down to meet Mr. Rice.

Being single doesn't make you weak, it means that you are strong enough to be on your own; Being alone could be a good thing, because there is no drama involved in your life, no pain, and free to do what ever you want. Life is too short to be chasing those who aren't even worth fighting for, you are worth more than that.

"You've cycled through sane and crazy before, who's to say it won't happen again? OR, worse, you're trying to lie to us for some evil plan of yours?" Ella said.

"Why would you go against your dad?" Ryan questioned, "Why would you be loyal to us and not him?"

Dr. Martin interjected, "As much as you do need to all talk... I would encourage you to wait until the end of the meeting. We haven't achieved anything yet with all of this commotion and it's been 45 minutes. Everybody sit down, calm down, and we will talk one-at-a-time. Janelle, I'm going to talk to you first. How do you feel about being leader of the resistance, taking Torie's place?"

Ella and Ryan were both glaring at Alex. xD
-
David was dressed in a black suit and a red tie, his thinning black hair slicked back with holding gel. He shook his hand. "Good day, Dr. Amon. This lovely lady here is my assistant, Vivian."

"Hello." Vivian's golden blond hair was straight and cut just above the shoulders and she was wearing a pair of thin square-rimmed glasses. As or her clothing, she was wearing a long sleeved teal button-up blouse with the first couple buttons undone to show some cleavage, a grey skirt cut just above the knee, and peach 'skintone' colour high heels. Her lipstick was bright pink and showed off her pouty thick lips.

"Like I am never going to fill her shoes. She was such a great speaker and knew what to say whereas I am always questioning if I say the right thing. I just...I don't know how I am going to fill her shoes." Janelle confessed, looking down. "I can only hope to be half the person she was."

Alex pretended not to notice. xD
~
Dr. Amon nodded to Vivan. "She is...well, she is difficult. She has already tried to escape once and, as for therapy, she isn't responding well."

"GET THE HELL OFF ME!" Torie yelled, as she was being lead into the holding room.

Dr. Amon sighed. "We are taking her to a holding cell where you can talk with her more privately." He explained.

Being single doesn't make you weak, it means that you are strong enough to be on your own; Being alone could be a good thing, because there is no drama involved in your life, no pain, and free to do what ever you want. Life is too short to be chasing those who aren't even worth fighting for, you are worth more than that.

"The way you are feeling is normal, but you shouldn't worry about being up to the standard she set, Janelle. Torie chose you to lead the resistance because she believed you had what it takes. She believed in you, now you need to believe in yourself. If you do that, confidence will come, and to be a great speaker, you need to be self-confident. You will never be Torie, but you are Janelle, and you can be just as great of a leader. I know it's inside you, and Torie sees that too."

Dr. Martin looked over at Ella, "You next, Ella. How would you describe your relationship with Torie?"

"Torie... she's my best friend. She's always stuck by me even when everyone else wouldn't. We've known each other since she first came to Chicago and started attending public school. I'm going through a lot right now, and I wish she was here to talk to. I have my sister I can talk to, but it's not the same... I have no friends."

"I'm sure that's not true, Ella. Everyone here is your friend."

-

"I didn't expect her to respond well. She's still being kept in solitary?"

Mike folded his arms and didn't comment.
~
"Yes sir. She has been there every since she came in." Dr. Amon replied. "She has no access to any TV or electronic device, but there is a camera high on the wall. She has had no contact with anyone other than Program employees, as well."

((hey, going to my house here soon. then will be back on))

Being single doesn't make you weak, it means that you are strong enough to be on your own; Being alone could be a good thing, because there is no drama involved in your life, no pain, and free to do what ever you want. Life is too short to be chasing those who aren't even worth fighting for, you are worth more than that.

Heather shrugged, "You already know I'm not your friend. I'm not gonna lie about it. I would almost go as far as to say I hate you."

Ella didn't respond to Heather, since she expected as much from her. She stared at Mike. "Not even going to answer? What, you scared to say your not my friend and that you hate me? Heather wasn't. Go ahead. Say what you want to say, Mike."